Apparatus for slicing solid materials



Oct. 20; 1959 s. HILL ER I APPARATUS FOR SLICING SOLID MATERIALS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filedjlay 14, 1956 m P 5 M m S A TTORNEVS 5. HILLER APPARATUS FOR sucmc soup MATERIALS Oct. 20, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed llay 14, 1956 INVENTOR. STANLEY H/LLE/P vl ylh A 7' TORNE'YS 0a. 20, 1959 S. HILLER 2,909,201

APPARATUS FOR SLICING SOLID MATERIALS Filed May 14, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. STANLEY H/LLER ATTORNEYS 72,909,201 APPARATUS FOR SLICING SOLID MATERIALS 1 I Stanley Hiller, Berkeley, Calif.

Application May 14, 1956, Serial No. 584,662

4 Claims. 01. 146-108) This invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for slicing material, such as broken coconut pieces, carrots, and'the like.

.It is the .primary object of the invention to provide ways and means for slicing such materials into :substantially uniform slices of a desired size rather than .into random sized slices such as commonly produced by heretofore employed slicers.

Another object is to provide ways and means for slicing such materials at much higher capacities than possible with methods and apparatus heretofore available for slicing.

A further object is to provide means for holding material to be sliced in a fixed orientation while pressing it with a controlled force against a slicing blade or disc whereby slices of a substantially uniform size .are made.

Still another object is the provision of apparatus for carrying out the foregoing objects which apparatus is simple and economical of construction and operation and capable of adaptation to slicing a wide variety of materials.

In order that the invention may be more readil-ylunder stood and carried into effect, reference is made to the following description and the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification and Which are ofiered for purposes of illustration only and are not to be taken as limiting the invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims rather than by the description preceding them.

In such drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational View of a slicer embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken in the plane of line 22 of Fig. .1, certain parts being shown in phantom lines for purposes of clarity;

Fig. '3 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken in the plane of 'line 33 of Fig. .2, parts being shown in elevation for clarity;

Fig. 4 isa sectional view taken in the .planeof line 44 of Fig. l; i

Fig. 5 .is .a front elevational view on an enlarged scale of the cutting disc other parts being shown in phantom linesgfor purposes of clarity;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken in the plane of line on allsides :outside of the hopper 11 'to provide for "forcing material :under pressure against a "rotatable cut- Zfidhidl Patented Oct. 20, 1959 ice ter plate or disc 16 on which are mounted slicing blades 17. As is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 7, the crest diameter of the helix of each screw conveyor 12 is substantially equal to the inner diameter of the enclosed portion of each housing 13, thereby preventing any material to be sliced from passing between the crests of the conveyor helices and the inner walls of the housings, and thereby insuring proper feeding pressure of the material against the cutter disc 16.

i In order to eliminate tumbling and thereby insure that material being sliced will be held in a substantially fixed position against plate 16 during slicing by blades 17, there is provided a particular arrangement of screws 12 with respect to a central drive shaft 18 on which the cutter plate 16 is fixedly mounted by a key 19 and cap screw 20.

Referring to the drawings, in particular Figs. 3, 4 and 5, it will be noted that the arrangement is such that screws 12 are spaced from and around the central shaft .18 in such a manner that shafts 21 of such screws are substantially parallel to shaft 18 so that feed progresses toward and against cutter disc 16 in a direction substantially transverse to the plane in which such disc and blades 17 rotate. Blades 17 on cutter plate 16 are so located and of such a length that upon rotation of plate 16 the blades pass in a transverse direction completely over the open end of each housing 13 on both sides of the longitudinal axes of each shaft 21. Thus, in each housing, all forces exerted against the material by .the blades are in the same direction and so tend to counteract each other within the housing thereby avoiding a turning of the material.

This .is an important feature because it eliminates tumbling of materials by the blades or knives 17 once the slicing operation has started and thus provides for slicing the material in the same direction at all times. Hence, if the materials are once positioned for slicing in a particular manner (i.e. transverse to their length .or vice versa) they will retain that position for the entire operation and all slices will be substantially uniform in shapeand thickness.

- In connection with the functional relationship between blades 17 and feed screw 12, it is desirable that each blade be of sufiicient length to extend completely across the .open end of screw housing 13. This insures that .all material in slicing position in a given plane at a given .time is subjected to engagement by the slicing blade. This is a very desirable feature because it substantially eliminates random size slices that might occur if the blades did not extend clear across the housing. This is so because if each blade did not cut material across the entire width of housing then the uncut portions might form projections that would, upon engagement by a succeeding blade, yield a partial slice or else a slice of non-uniform thickness.

Although the above described feature of each cutting blade extending clear across the housings during slicing is desirable for obtaining more uniform slices, it is .to be understood that a plurality of shorter blades mounted in overlapping position may be employed. In such a case, the slices would not be as uniform, but the other features of the invention such as non-tumbling of the material and high capacity operation will still be realized.

To increase the efficiency of the slicing action, cutter blades 17 are desirably mounted ina position offset from the .axis of driving shaft 18 (i.e., parallel to but spaced from a radius line of circular cutter disc 16). This is best shown in Fig. 5 from which it will be noted that instead of extending radially from the center of cutter disc 16 on shaft 18, such blades instead have their inner ends spaced away from such center. This has the effect of improving slicing action of the blades and gives cleaner slices. This is probably due to the fact the linear speed of the inner end of such offset blade is increased as compared to the speed of the inner end of a true radial blade.

Thickness of slices is regulated by a correlation of several factors, namely, the number of blades 17 employed on the plate 16, the rate of feed of material to such blades (i.e. pressure of material against the cutting disc), the depth of cut for which the blade is set, and the speed of rotation of plate 16 relative to the feed rate. In this connection, the depth of cut' may be varied by adjusting the distance which the edge of blade 17 extends through the elongated blade holding opening 22 in plate 16. All of the above factors may be varied and correlated to obtain a desired slice for any given material.

Although the slicer may be driven by any one of several suitable drive and gear arrangements, the one illustrated is desirable due to its ease of construction and simplicity of operation.

In the embodiment illustrated, drive shaft 18 is driven .by means of a sprocket 23 mounted on the end of such shaft opposite plate 16, the'sprocket being driven by a chain 24 which is in turn driven in conventional manner by a suitable motor 26. Shaft 18 is journalled for rotation in suitable bearings 27 mounted in spaced apart supporting plates 28 adjacent the feed end of the slicer and by suitable bearings 29 in a support plate 31 adjacent the other or inner end of the slicer.

Screw shafts 21 are also each journalled for rotation adjacent the feed end of the slicer in suitable bearings 32 in spaced apart plates 28. In this connection, it will be noted that the opposite or inner ends of shafts 21 are not journalled, but instead are semi-floating and rely for support on bearings 32 and by contact of screw 12 with the side walls of housing 13 which serve to keep the screw in proper alignment.

. ing of the blade drive shaft 18 by means of a small gear 33 held in place by a key 33 on drive shaft 18 between plates 28. Such gear engages larger gears 34 held in place by keys 34 on screw shafts 21 between such end plates 28. Thus, upon driving shaft 18 which rotates plate 16 to bring the slicing blades across the ends of housings 13, the feed screws 12 are simultaneously driven so that material is continuously fed through housings 13 and pressed against plate 16 for engagement by slicing blades 17.

In this connection, it is to be noted that the rotational speed of screws 12 relative to cutting blades 17 can be adjusted by varying the sizes of gears 33 and 34 to vary the feed rate relative to the rotational speed of cutter disc 16. Also, the feed rate can be changed by employing a screw of different pitch. The slicing rate can be vention provides a slicer of wide versatility that is adapted varied by using a different number of blades 17 on cutter disc 16, correlating the number of such blades with the several factors previously discussed, namely, feed rate, cutter disc speed and depth of cut.

In order to properly guide sliced material, an annular baffle or hub member 36 is suitably secured to the periphery of plate 16 and extends outwardly therefrom so that material sliced off by blades 17 and discharged through blade openings 22 will not be violently thrown beyond such hub. To direct sliced solids into a suitable container, a hood 37 is provided which is open on the bottom and closed on all other sides, thereby directing the material downwardly. Hood 37 is secured to end support plate 31 in any suitable manner as by welding or screws (not shown).

Mounting of housings 13 between blade 16 and inner end plate 28 is accomplished by means of annular collars 38 around such housings adjacent each end thereof and secured respectively in any suitable manner, such as by welding or machine screws 38, to inner end plate 28 and opposite support plate 31.

As can be best seen from Fig. 4, each housing 13 has an open portion inside of hopper 11 to receive solids for conveying them into engagement with blades 17. Since there are a plurality of screw conveyors supplying material to the blades for slicing, the capacity of the machine is greatly increased over that obtainable with a single screw. In operation, the feed hopper will normally be filled to a level above the uppermost of the screws so that feed will be supplied to all screws simultaneously. Guiding of feed material into the lower screws is accomplished by means of sloping side walls 39 adjacent the bottom of feed hopper 11 in cooperation with a pair of sloping inner plates 41 interconnecting the inner sides of the lower housings with the sides of the upper housing.

Other parts of the apparatus not described in detail may be of any suitable construction and design to carry out the purposes of the invention. For instance, spaced apart end plates 28 may be suitably secured as by screws 42 to an annular spacing ring 43 and the feed hopper may either be welded to the apparatus or secured thereto by screws 42. Obviously, any suitable mounting support 44 may be employed to support the slicer during operation.

The open ends of the screw housings 13 as well as screws 12 must terminate short of cutter disc 16 to insure that blades 17 do not strike such housings. Such spacing or clearance will be determined by the type of material being sliced and will necessarily be small enough to prevent the objects being sliced from falling between the plate and the housing ends.

From the foregoing description, it is seen that the into handle a wide variety of materials and to produce uniform slices of any practical desired thickness yet capable of operation at high capacities.

If desired, each screw 12 may be terminated a substantial distance from the end of its housing 13 adjacent disc 16 thus providing a space into which material may be tightly packed for pressing against such disc. Such an arrangement may be of particular value when slicing objects such as onions, carrots, apples and the like which might have a tendency to roll if one side were against a screw flight during slicing, but which, if tightly packed in contact with similar shaped objects, will be securely held during slicing. In this connection, flat objects, such as pieces of coconut meat are quite readily held by the surfaces of the screw flights against which they usually rest in flat position. Hence, a packing space, as above described, need not be employed when slicing flat objects.

Although the invention has been described with reference to an embodiment in which the cutter disc is vertical and the feed screws are horizontal, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to such an arrangement. Thus, if desired, the cutter disc may be mounted for operation in a horizontal plane with the feed screws vertical and operation will be satisfactory due to the controlled positive feeding action.

I claim:

1. Slicing apparatus comprising a feed hopper structure for material to be sliced and open at the top, a main drive shaft extending through said hopper structure and rotatable therein, a cutter disc mounted for rotation with said shaft adjacent an end of and outside said hopper structure, a plurality of cutter blades fixed to the inside face of said disc; feeder means for moving material to be sliced against said disc for engagement with said blades comprising a plurality of cylindrical housings included in said hopper structure and spaced circumferentially about said main drive shaft whereby at least one of said housings is at a difierent elevation than another of'said housings, each of said housings being open at the top adjacent ends thereof remote from said disc to provide inlets for material fed into said hopper structure, the opposite ends of said housings being open adjacent said disc whereby said disc can rotate past said latter open ends, each of said housings being enclosed between the open ends thereof, a continuous helical screw type conveyor mounted for rotation in each housing, the crest diameter of each screw conveyor being substantially equal to the inner diameter of the associated housing whereby material to be sliced is precluded from pas-sing between the crest of the conveyor helix and the housing thereby insuring proper feeding pressure of said material against said disc; means for driving said main drive shaft, and drivable means interconnecting said screw type conveyors and said main drive shaft to effect drive of said conveyors.

2. Slicing apparatus comprising a cutter disc mounted adjacent an end of said apparatus for rotation about an axis, a plurality of cutting blades mounted on said disc for rotation therewith, feeder means for pressing material to be out against said disc for engagement with said blades comprising three cylindrical housings each of which is open at an end adjacent said disc whereby said disc can rotate past said open ends, said housings being spaced circumferentially about said disc axis whereby imaginary lines connecting said housing axes form a triangle with said housing axes located at the apices of such triangle, at least one of said housings being located at a diiferent elevation than the other two housings, each of said housings having a feed inlet opening in the wall thereof spaced from the open end thereof, a feed hopper communicating with all of said feed inlet openings, a screw conveyor rotatably mounted in each of said housings, and means for simultaneously driving said conveyors and disc comprising a drive shaft extending between said housings along the rotational axis of said disc and connected to said disc at one end thereof, and gearing interconnecting the opposite end of said drive shaft with said screw conveyors.

3. Slicing apparatus comprising a disc mounted adjacent one end of said appaartus for rotation about an axis, a plurality of cutting blades adjustably mounted on said disc for rotation therewith, feeder meansfor aligni g properly and pressing material to be out against said disc for engagement with said blades comprising three cylindrical housings each of which is open at an end adjacent said disc whereby said disc can rotate past said open ends, said housings being spaced circumferentially about said axis whereby at least one of said housings is at an elevationdifferent from the other of said housings, each of said housings having a feed inlet therein spaced from the open end thereof, said feed inlets communicating directly with a material feed hopper which is common to the feed inlets of all of said housings, each of said housings being enclosed between its open end and its feed inlet, and a screw type conveyor rotatably mounted in each of said housings, the crest diameter of the helix of each conveyor being substantially equal to the inner diameter of the respective housing in which such conveyor is mounted whereby each conveyor is free to rotate in its respective housing but material to be sliced is precluded from sliding between the crest of the helix of each of said conveyors and its respective housing thereby insuring proper feeding of said material under pressure against said disc.

4. Slicing apparatus of the type described in claim 3 wherein each of said plurality of cutting blades extends substantially parallel to but spaced from a radius of said disc.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 637,521 Mitchel Nov. 21, 1899 1,772,135 Fisher Aug. 5, 1930 2,795,912 Skromme June 18, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 37,048 Germany Sept. 25, 1886 25,377 Great Britain 1913 652,280 France Oct. 22, 1928 407,389 Great Britain Mar. 19, 1934 73,941 Netherlands Jan. 15, 1954 

